James Herman Dye, 64, faces first-degree murder charges for the death of Evelyn Kay Day, who was sexually assaulted and strangled in November 1979, according to an arrest statement.
Dye, who lives in Wichita, Kansas, is being held in Sedgwick County Prison while awaiting his extradition to Weld County, the Weld County Public Ministry said in a press release on Friday.
Dye could not be reached for comment, but in an interview with detectives on March 22, Dye denied knowing or killing the victim and said he had never heard of the murder, according to a written statement filed with the court.
It is not clear whether Dye has a lawyer.
Day, who was 29 at the time of his death, worked at night as a business lab monitor at Aims Community College in Greeley, according to a statement. She was last seen by a student in her car in the campus parking lot at 10 pm on November 26, 1979, the document said.
When he realized the next morning that Day had not returned home, her husband, Stanley Charles Day, reported his disappearance.
Co-workers saw Day’s car by the side of the road at around 5:30 pm on November 27 and found his body in the back. The statement said she was strangled with her overcoat belt.
Authorities collected evidence and followed several leads, but made no arrests, the statement said.
Last year, a “cold case” detective from Weld County asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to run DNA evidence of Day’s murder through the CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, the testimony said.
This database allows police and criminal labs to share and search thousands of DNA profiles.
The DNA from the rape kit matched Dye, as did the DNA from Day’s coat sleeve and the shaving of his nails, the statement said.
The detective checked with the college and found that Dye was enrolled as a student there in the summer and fall quarters of 1979 and in other quarters in the following years, the statement said.
Police officers interviewed Dye on March 22 in Wichita, the statement said.
The statement states: “The Defendant denied knowing the Victim. The Defendant denied having a sexual relationship with the Victim. The Defendant denied having touched the Victim. The Defendant denied that the Victim touched her. The Defendant denied having killed the Victim. The Defendant stated this was the first time he had heard of the victim being killed and he did not follow the investigation. “
The trial date has not yet been set, the prosecutor’s office said.